


Worthy of Love

by ladywithlight



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, Found Family, Teen Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25436800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladywithlight/pseuds/ladywithlight
Summary: Meredith makes a choice at the age of 16 that changes her future. AU, MerDer endgame with early meetings of some later characters.  All characters property of Shonda Rhimes, ABC, etc.
Relationships: Meredith Grey/Derek Shepherd
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	1. Prologue: Mixing it Up

Meredith Grey took a deep breath to steady herself, then marched on to enter the mixer event set to introduce the new interns to the residents, attendings, and department heads they would be working with. She knew that she needed to try to make some inroads with her colleagues, but these types of events always meant one thing.

“Hi there,” a voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see the face of one of her new coworkers, probably another intern like herself. It took only a second for Meredith to assess the look on his face and know he wanted one thing in particular. “I’m Alex.”

“Meredith,” she introduced herself shortly.

“What do you say we cut out of here early and go have some fun?” he asked.

Meredith chuckled slightly to herself. In some ways, she could appreciate his straightforward approach here. “I would love to,” she replied, “But there is someone waiting for me at home.”

“Too bad,” he murmured, ambling away.

One by one as the minutes ticked on, her new colleagues introduced themselves. “Hi,” one young man said. “I’m George O’Malley, call me George.” 

“I’m Meredith,” she said. “Nice to meet you, George.” 

As the brunette man struggled to come up with something else to say, the smug one from earlier reinserted himself, “Don’t bother, dude,” he said. “She’s got a boyfriend.”

He dragged the smaller man away, George looking equal parts disappointed and perplexed. Apparently, “Alex” had decided that he would play buffer for her with any other hopefuls. Whether he was genuinely trying to help her, or just wanted to make sure that she didn’t go home with anyone else after rejecting him, she couldn’t say.

She struck up a few more brief but meaningless conversations with the other new surgical interns and a few attendings - making sure she had put in enough time to keep up appearances, and then she was more than ready to leave.

She reached the door at nearly the exact time that another person was also heading out. She looked up, meeting his intense blue eyes. Something about her gaze made her blush as he opened the door and gestured for her to go first.

“Thank you,” she murmured. The two began the walk side by side down the hallway.

“Had about enough?” he asked with a charming smile.

“Yes, I have reached my tolerance of schmoozing for the night.” Meredith replied.

“Heading home to that boyfriend?” he asked. The exited the building into a surprisingly clear Seattle night.

She looked up sharply at him, “Let me guess, you talked to ‘Alex’?” she retorted. “I told him I had someone to go home to, but I never said I had a boyfriend.”

“So you don’t have a boyfriend?” he asked.

“I never said that either,” Meredith responded with an enigmatic smile. By this time, the two had arrived beside her car. “Well, this is me. It was nice meeting you --”

“Derek.”

“Right. Derek. I’m Meredith.” she introduced herself. “I guess I will see you around.”

Meredith got in her car and completed the short drive home. 

“Hello,” she called out hopefully as she entered the house. 

“Mom! You’re home!” came the cry. A bouncing nine-year-old with a riot of dark curly hair flew across the living room. 

“Hi, AJ,” she greeted her daughter with a hug. “Hi Mrs. Patterson,” she spoke to the babysitter. “How was she tonight?”

“Absolutely no problems,” said Mrs. Patterson.

“We’ll see you in the morning - I have to be at the hospital at 8:00, so I will need to leave around 7:30.”

“I’ll be here.” 

“Thanks Mrs. Patterson,” she said to the older woman, closing the door behind her as she left.

“How was it?” her daughter asked. “Did you meet your new coworkers? Are they nice?”

“It was ok, if a bit boring. I would much rather have been home with you,” Meredith said. “I met a few of my new coworkers. Some seem nice, but I guess I will not know until I have worked with them for a bit longer.”

“We still have a few hours before bed time,” she continued. “What would you like to do?”

“Movie?” her daughter asked, blinking up at her with clear brown eyes that always melted her heart.

“Go pick one out.”

The two settled in, one thinking of the new strides she would make the next day, the other sharing her evening with her mother, and both enjoying the other’s company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This AU explores how Grey's Anatomy might have gone if Meredith had been a teen mother. Some surprise characters we know will be involved. Comments are always appreciated. Cross Posted on Fanfiction.net.


	2. An Even Harder Day's Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place during/is an alternate to 'Hard Day's Night'.

Meredith Grey would not say that her first shift as a surgical intern was going well. She had been assigned to the resident with the reputation for being the most difficult, the other interns seemed to at times either despise or resent her, and she had been assigned to monitor the case of one Katie Bryce, teen age beauty queen.

While Meredith was working very hard to have compassion on her young patient, Katie Bryce was exactly the kind of girl that Meredith hated growing up.

*** Ten Years Earlier ***

16-year old Meredith had always been a self-proclaimed outcast. Hair was dyed bright pink - mostly in defiance to her mother; her clothing was all black - mostly because it reflected how she felt inside; and her 4-month pregnant belly stuck out like a sore thumb on her very slight frame.

She had always been mostly on her own. Her mother was a busy surgeon, and her father had been gone for almost as long as she could remember. She didn't know what she had expected when she told her mother she was going to have a baby, but she shouldn't have been surprised at Ellis Grey's reaction.

"You'll be getting an abortion, or you can't stay here." her mother demanded.

Meredith moved out the next day.

She had first approached her estranged father. His response was disheartening to say the least. "I have 2 other daughters. I can't have your influence around Molly and Lexie." her father said.

In desperation, she went to her ex-boyfriend Danny's house. He was her baby's father, after all. He had broken up with her right before she knew about the baby, but surely they would be interested in being in the kid's life.

"Danny says it's not his baby," Mrs. Monroe said, over Meredith's protests.

Dejected, she had ended up back at her mother's house to pack up her things. Outside, she ran into her neighbor, Mrs. Patterson. The Patterson's were a childless couple in their 40's. Mrs. Patterson had always been very kind to Meredith. Somehow (she cannot even tell how years later) Mr. and Mrs. Patterson asked her to stay with them.

And so she had returned to school, an outcast pregnant girl. She was almost finished, she assured herself. She was on track to graduate in just one more month, and would head across the country for her undergraduate degree. But that didn't make that month any easier.

She had not ever had a large circle of friends at school. But the stares, the whispers, the outright taunts now coming from the prissy and popular were very nearly too much to bear. Meredith kept her head down and tried her best to pretend it didn't hurt that girls who didn't even know her would call her terribly derogatory names.

***

Meredith shook her head slightly to clear these musings as she entered the cafeteria. As she approached the table of her fellow interns, the conversation immediately halted - a sure sign they had been talking about her. She ignored Ignoring this - it wasn't like it was the first time she was talked about. "Katie Bryce is a pain in the ass," she said as a way of restarting the conversation. "How is everyone else's day going?"

"Bailey hates me," said blonde intern Isobel Stephens.

"Burke hates me," said George O'Malley, the puppy dog eyed intern she had met at the mixer the night before.

Meredith smiled slightly in sympathy. At least she wasn't the only one having a bad day.

"Good afternoon interns." Dr. Preston Burke interrupted, approaching their table. "It's posted, but I thought I'd share the good news personally. As you know, the honor of performing the first surgery is reserved for the intern that shows the most promise. As I'm running the OR today, I get to make that choice. George O'Malley. You'll scrub in for an appendectomy this afternoon. Congratulations."

Without waiting for a reply, the handsome attending walked away.

"Did he say me?" George squeaked.

Meredith winced in sympathy. She knew that this tradition wasn't quite what it seemed. It was a setup - George was expected to fail, and set an example for all of the other interns. Whatever he had done to Dr. Burke, she did not envy him. It is just the sort of torture of a subordinate that her mother revelled in.

The other interns left quickly, leaving Meredith alone at the table. She quickly pulled out her phone and checked her messages. She had two: one from her daughter and one from her friend Maggie.

*** 4 Years Earlier ***

It was Meredith's first day of medical school at the Tufts University School of Medicine and she was just a bit turned around on the campus. She finally arrives on the lawn to the building she needs. Another class must have just let out, because a gaggle of students flowed out the door. One student in particular caught her eye, and she slightly caught her breath. The girl was the spitting image of her daughter. Or, at least, what she imagined her daughter would look like in 10 years. She was young for medical school, too.

A taller, blonde woman walked up to the girl, taunting "Hey, maggot, you forgot your diapers," throwing a package of diapers at the younger student. The girl startled at the move and dropped the books she was carrying. Meredith saw red.

"What are you, five?" She shouted at the girl. "No of course not, a five year old would behave better."

"Oooh, maggot's got a protector," the girl sneered.

"You'd better back off," Meredith said, standing inches from the face of the larger girl. The girl may have been more physically imposing, but something must have shone through in Meredith's eyes because the girl took a tentative step back. "Unless you would like me to report you to the dean for hazing. You do know there's a zero tolerance policy."

"Yeah, right, you don't even know my name," the girl said.

"True," Meredith admitted. "But I would bet someone here does."

The girl muttered to herself, walking away, and the crowd dispersed. Meredith leaned down to help the girl pick up her books and papers. "Thanks," the girl said. "But you didn't have to do that."

"This is going to sound strange," Meredith said. "But I think I did have to do that. I have a class right now, but would you like to meet for lunch later?"

"Sure." the girl said, a bright smile shining just like her child's. "I'm Maggie, by the way. Maggie Pierce."

"Meredith Grey," she said. "Nice to meet you."

***

Maggie: How's the first day going?

Meredith quickly typed up her reply: Teen beauty queen patient driving me insane. Other interns seem to hate me for some reason. And it's raining. I think Seattle hates me as much as I hate it.

AJ: Hi!

Meredith clicked the call button and put the phone to her ear.

"Hi, mom!" her daughter answered quickly.

"Hi sweetheart, how is the day going?" Meredith asked.

"Not bad. Mrs. Patterson took me to the park and we walked around and I played basketball with some other kids. But what about you? It's your first day?" AJ babbled, excited.

"It is good," Meredith fibbed. "I am learning loads and have a few patients I am watching over."

"Come on Mom, don't leave me hanging here! What about your coworkers - have you made any friends yet?" she asked.

"No, not really yet. We are all so busy - I am sure we will get there eventually." she assured her daughter. "I have to get back to work, but I just wanted to hear your voice, Amanda."

The two said goodbye, and Meredith quickly finished her lunch and headed back to the third floor to check again on Katie Bryce. Her parents had finally arrived, and were beside themselves with worry, asking questions that Meredith was truly not prepared to answer.

"I know how worried you must be. We are working very hard to find out what is happening with Katie." Meredith assured them. "I am going to go and get the attending on the case - the doctor in charge."

She exited the room quickly, catching Dr. Bailey in the hallway.

"Katie Bryce's parents have questions. Do you talk to them, or should I find Dr. Burke?" she asked.

No, Burke's off the case," Dr. Bailey replied. "Katie belongs to the new attending now, Dr. Shepherd, he's over there."

She looked over to where Dr. Bailey had gestured, seeing the man who had introduced himself as "Derek" to her the night before, and had walked her to her car. She approached Dr. Shepherd as he finished speaking with 2 other doctors.

"Dr. Shepherd," she enquired.

"Dr. Shepherd," he said, mockingly. "Last night it was 'Derek', now it's Dr. Shepherd."

The hint of mocking and amusement in his voice made Meredith bristle a bit. "I believe calling you 'Derek' now would be inappropriate." she said. "I'm the intern on the Katie Bryce case and her parents have some questions for you."

"Come on now, didn't we have a nice conversation yesterday? Aren't we friends yet?" he asked.

"I just…" Meredith paused. "I really don't want anyone to get the wrong idea."

Once they reached Katie's room, Dr. Shepherd was all business. He told the family about Katie's CT and lab results - all negative so far. And that they would be continuing to test and determine what was happening with Katie.

"Dr. Grey will be continuing to check on her," Dr. Shepherd said.

With a short break to watch George completely tank his appendectomy, and a brief argument with Karev about a post op patient with a fever, Meredith was back checking on Katie.

"I'm so bored," she said. "The pageant's supposed to be on cable but this crappy hospital doesn't get the channel. Can you call someone?"

"I'm sorry Katie, there's no way for us to get a premium cable channel in here. Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"But I can't sleep. My head's all full," the girl whined.

Feeling that she was about to reach the end of her patience, Meredith said, "That's called thinking. Go with it. I'll be back to check on you in an hour."

Two hours later, Meredith had returned to check on Katie for the second time, forcing out all of the compassion she could.

"Are you sure you can't get me the channel with the pageant on it?" Katie asked again.

"I'm sure," Meredith said, checking her pulse and marking it on her chart. "Why is this pageant so important to you anyway?"

"I just," the teen started, then abruptly stopped. Meredith looked up, only to see the girl's eyes roll back into her head at the onset of a seizure.

"Crap," she said, hitting the button to summon the nurses to the room.

"Page Shepherd and Bailey," she instructed, then proceeded to floundering call for diazepam and phenobarbital. The seizing stopped, then so did the girl's heart.

"Damn it Katie," she muttered, calling for the crash cart and shocking the girl several times. The patient finally stabilized, just in time for Dr. Shepherd to re-enter the room.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"She had another seizure and her heart stopped," Meredith explained.

"You were supposed to be watching her!" Shepherd scolded.

"I was-" Meredith started.

"I've got it! Just go!" he shouted.

Meredith left the room, shaking. She headed quickly down the hall toward the privacy of the ladies room.

Bailey was walking toward her, face like a stormcloud. "You get a 911, you page me immediately, not in the five minutes it takes you to get to the emergency, immediately, you are on my team and if somebody dies it's my ass," the woman berated. "You hear me, Grey?"

Meredith barely nodded, continuing her way to the restroom and, just making it in time to vomit in the first stall.

Back in Katie Bryce's room, Dr. Shepherd muttered to Bailey, "Damn it, I think I yelled at an intern for no reason."

"Oh, I'm sure there was a reason," Bailey said. "They're interns, they're bound to have messed up somehow."

"I thought Grey wasn't keeping an eye on this patient, but look at the chart," he gestured. Sure enough, in neat, even hand, hourly vitals and neuro check recordings, including one from just 5 minutes before.

"She was in the room when the seizures started again," confirmed the nurse who was setting everything back to rights in Katie's room now that the drama was over. "For what it's worth, I thought she handled it like a pro."

"I yelled at her too," Bailey said, "For not paging me fast enough."

"First thing she did," said the nurse with a wry smile, escaping from the room.

"Well we certainly can't apologize," Bailey said. "Set's a bad precedent."

Bailey left Shepherd to continue checking over

Early the next morning, Dr. Shepherd gathered the interns for a contest of sorts. Whomever could find the reason for Katie Bryce's seizures would get to scrub in on an advanced neuro procedure. The interns set to researching, and Cristina approached Meredith.

"Hey, I want in on Shepherd's surgery. You've been the intern on Katie since the start. You want to work together? We find the answer, we have a fifty-fifty chance of scrubbing in."

"I'll work with you," Meredith said. "But you will probably get the surgery. Shepherd hates me."

They sat on the floor of the hospital's research library, going over and eliminating the possibilities.

"Well, she doesn't have anoxia, chronic renal failure or acidosis. It's not a tumor because her CT's clean." Cristina said. "So why do you think Shepherd hates you?"

"I honestly have no idea." Meredith said. "Earlier we seemed fine, but when Katie had that last seizure and she crashed...it was like he blamed me for a girl who has unexplained seizures having a seizure, just because I was there."

They eliminated a few more possibilities, then, when they seemed to be at a dead end, Meredith felt a revelation. "Her pageant talent is rhythmic gymnastics." she said. "Katie had a fall last week -" Meredith cut herself off, glancing toward the other interns in the room who were subtly - or in some cases not so subtly - listening to her speech. "Come on," she said, pulling Cristina up and heading toward the door. On the way to find Shepherd, Meredith quietly explained her theory to Cristina. They would tell Dr. Shepherd together, but Cristina needed to know what they were going to tell him.

They found Shepherd by the elevator. They explained Meredith's theory - that Katie's minor fall could have caused bleeding in her brain, and somehow must have gotten through to him, because the next they knew, Katie Bryce was in for another scan and they found a small bleed in her brain. "I'll be damned," Dr. Shepherd muttered to himself. "It's small, but it's there."

With the scan completed, the group walked back out to the nurses station and Dr. Shepherd got her chart to schedule her surgery.

"Dr. Shepherd," Cristina began, "You said that you'd pick someone to scrub in if we helped."

"Right," Dr. Shepherd replied. "I'm sorry I can't take you both, it's going to be a full house. Meredith, I'll see you in there."

Cristina walked away. Meredith was a bit stunned, but soon followed after and found her in the tunnels.

"Cristina," she started. "I'm so sorry."

"You know what, you did a cutthroat thing, deal with it," Cristina said. "Don't come to me for absolution, you want to be a shark, be a shark."

"I'm not -" Meredith started.

"Oh yes you are," Cristina interrupted. "Only it makes you feel all bad in your warm gooey places. No, screw you. I don't get picked for surgeries because I have a famous mother. You know, some of us have to earn what we get."

"You don't know anything about me, Cristina Yang," Meredith said, dangerous edge to her voice. "So you know what, screw you."

Meredith walked away, heading back up to the surgical ward to check on the remaining post op patients she was assigned.

She would later blame this out of control temper she felt on the confrontation with Cristina. When Dr. Webber asked the interns in the area for the common causes of post op fevers, and Meredith, of course, knew the answer, it should have stopped at his praise of her. But then the chief just had to go and mention her mother.

"I would know you anywhere. You're the spitting image of your mother," Dr. Webber said with a slight smile. "Welcome to the game, Dr. Grey."

"Thank you sir," Meredith replied.

"How is your mother? I heard she was taking some time off from Mayo. Is she going back to the UN?" Webber asked.

"Ellis is Ellis…" Meredith paused. "I've been trying to understand how she manipulated this situation and I think I just figured something out."

"A few weeks ago, I was matched at Mass Gen and ready to start my internship in Boston when I got a call from my mother, who hadn't spoken to me in almost a decade. She demanded that I return to Seattle and take care of her because she is unwell. I, of course, said 'no'. So then a few days later, I get a call that I have been rematched to Seattle Grace Hospital, and I have two weeks to move myself and my daughter across the country. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

Shooting a pointed look at Dr. Webber, Meredith continued, "I can see by the guilty look on your face that you do. Let me guess, my mother said that I wanted to come here? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now, since I am here anyway."

"Your mother is sick?" Dr. Webber asked.

"She doesn't want people to know," Meredith said. "But since she doesn't much care about what I want, I am not going to respect her wishes. Ellis has Alzheimer's. She's in a care facility; Roseridge."

"I…" Webber floundered.

"Feel free to go and see her, she probably won't remember I wasn't supposed to tell you." Meredith said, walking away from the Chief of Surgery.

Meredith helped Dr. Shepherd prep Katie for surgery, and then the two of them, along with a host of other surgical personnel, scrubbed in. The surgery itself was glorious. Seeing the inside of a human brain alive and in person, was incomparable and this high was just the reason that she got into surgery. As the team was scrubbing out, a phone rang on the bank of phones and pagers set aside for the duration of the surgeries. "It's Dr. Grey's" a scrub nurse said. "Caller ID says 'AJ'"

"She wouldn't be calling if it wasn't an emergency. Can you answer please?" Meredith requested.

"Dr. Meredith Grey's phone," the nurse spoke, answering the phone. "Dr. Grey, she says that Mrs. Patterson is having a heart attack,"

Meredith's eyes widened. "Crap," she muttered. "Did she call 911?"

The nurse relayed the message replying in the affirmative. "She said she can hear the ambulance, it is almost there," the nurse said. "She also said she gave her the aspirin from the first aid kit."

"Tell her to tell the ambulance to come here, and I will meet them in the ER. She is to ride with the ambulance." Meredith said. "And tell her 'well done, Amanda'."

The nurse relayed the message again. "She said 'me too,' and then she hung up." the nurse reported, confused.

Meredith nodded and finished getting cleaned up.

"Sounds like an emergency," Dr. Shepherd said, stating the obvious. "You go ahead to the pit and I will take care of Katie's post op."

Meredith thanked him and rushed out, only to encounter Cristina sitting outside the room in wait for her.

"It was a good surgery." Cristina said.

"Yeah," Meredith replied, continuing to walk. "I have to get down to the pit; family emergency. If you want to talk, please walk at the same time."

Cristina gets up and follows her, trying to keep up. "We don't have to do that thing where I say something, and then you say something, and then somebody cries, and there's like a moment…" she asked.

"Yuck, no," Meredith said.

"Good. You should get some sleep. You look like crap." Cristina said.

They arrived in the pit and Meredith looks around for sign of her daughter or Mrs. Patterson. "I look better than you," Meredith replied.

"Not possible," Cristina replied.

"Mom!" a shout interrupted from across the pit. The force of her daughter's weight hurtling into her nearly knocked her off her feet and she stumbled back a bit. Meredith leaned into the tight embrace, relieved to see her daughter again after a long and trying first day.

'Mom?' Cristina mouthed to herself.

"Cristina," she said, finally releasing her daughter. "This is my daughter AJ. AJ, this is my coworker Dr. Cristina Yang."

"Nice to meet you," the nine-year-old replied.

"Let's go see about Mrs. Patterson," Meredith said. The two walked away, leaving Cristina to ponder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is only 1 original character in this story so far - Meredith’s daughter. Spoilers for all seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Station 19, if you have watched all 3 you will find any characters who may seem like original characters. In a way, this may feel a bit like a Grey’s Anatomy Scavenger Hunt. You’re welcome.


	3. Second Cut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler alert for Station 19 Season 3 Episode 2 in this chapter. If you haven’t seen this episode, you may not understand some of this chapter.

Meredith and her daughter walked across the pit, approaching where the initial work seemed to be winding down on Mrs. Patterson. The kind lady was hooked up to a heart monitor, and everything seemed to be under control. Dr. Burke stood nearby, looking over her chart.

“So, this is the woman of the hour,” Dr. Burke said. “You must be AJ. Mrs. Patterson here has told me all about you.” He glanced at Meredith. “I should have known you were one of ours.”

“How is she?” Meredith asked.

“Definitely had a heart attack, but this one’s quick thinking probably saved her life.” Dr. Burke said. Turning to the patient, he continued, “You will be admitted, and we will need to run some additional tests to determine the best course of treatment. Has anyone called your husband?”

Meredith and AJ stayed with Mrs. Patterson until she was settled into her room. Finally, the older woman said, “Oh, don’t worry about me, hun. Your shift should be just about over - why don’t you and the sprite head on home?”

Meredith relented, but before she could head home, she needed to see the chief.

“AJ, I need to run and talk to my boss for a minute,” Meredith said. The two walked to the chief’s office, Meredith nervous and AJ curious. “Can you sit out here and wait for me?” Meredith asked her daughter.

She approached Dr. Webber’s assistant, Patricia. “Is Dr. Webber available?” she asked.

The Chief’s door suddenly opened, and Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Webber stepped out. “Thanks for letting me know, Derek,” Webber said. “Dr. Grey, I wasn’t expecting you, was I?”  
“No, sir, but do you have a minute?” she asked, biting her lip nervously.

He nodded, gesturing for her to enter his office, even as Dr. Shepherd exited. Meredith sat in the chair located across from Dr. Webber’s desk.

“Dr. Shepherd just informed me that you did very well today - solved the Katie Bryce medical mystery and scrubbed in on her surgery,” he said, casually.

Meredith nodded. “Yes sir,” she said. “That is not why I am here, though. First of all, I wanted to apologize for the way I spoke to you earlier. That was inappropriate and I am sorry.”

“Your apology is accepted. I owe you an apology as well. Obviously, you were right - I did change your internship at your mother’s request.” Webber confessed.

“What’s done is done,” Meredith said. “Your apology is accepted.”

There was a lull between the two, before Meredith continued.

“The other reason I wanted to see you is because I am sure that the rumor mill has already made its way up to you, but in case you hadn’t heard, my babysitter had a heart attack this afternoon,” Meredith said. 

Dr. Webber nodded.

“Gossip sure travels fast in this place,” she muttered. “My next shift is in 36 hours and I am going to be trying to figure out a new plan for her, but…”

“You may need a bit of leeway,” the chief filled in.

“Yes,” she answered.

“You can always bring her here,” he said. “Your mother had you here all the time.”

“On overnight shifts?” Meredith said incredulously. “I was trying to avoid making my daughter feel like a piece of luggage. Don’t worry though, we’ll figure something out. We always do.”

Meredith stood and walked to the door, bidding her boss good afternoon. She was surprised to find Dr. Shepherd engaged in conversation with her daughter.

“...You were very brave today,” he told her. “And very smart. How did you know to give her aspirin?”

“Mom took me to a first aid class,” the girl answered. “They showed how to help people with broken bones and heat stroke. And what to do for someone who is having a heart attack.”

“Dr. Burke said you saved her life, and I agree,” he complimented. Noticing Meredith approaching, he added, “You mom saved someone’s life today too.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Mmm Hmm,” Shepherd nodded. “Your mom is the one who figured out what was wrong with our patient when no one else could figure it out. She even saved her yesterday when she had a seizure.”

“Dr. Shepherd,” Meredith said cautiously as she approached.

“Mom, you look awful,” AJ told her.

“Thanks, kiddo,” Meredith said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Just what I love to hear.”

The girl giggled at her mother. “What am I supposed to say?”

“You’re supposed to tell her she is beautiful,” Shepherd said, startling Meredith. “Even when you know she definitely hasn’t showered in three days.”

Meredith laughed, rolling her eyes.

“Great work today, Dr. Grey,” he said. “I’m sorry for the way I spoke after Katie’s seizure. Dr. Bailey insisted that I couldn’t say this to you, so please never tell her.”

Meredith giggled. “You know you’re her boss, right?”

“True, but she is still scary, so mum’s the word.” he said. 

“Thank you, Dr. Shepherd.” Meredith said. “Why did you pick me for the surgery? Over Cristina, I mean. She really wanted it.”

“Of course she did,” he said. “You all really wanted it. Cristina maybe more than most. Because she buddied up to the one intern most likely to figure it out. You're Katie's doctor. And on your first day, with very little training, you helped save her life. You earned the right to follow her case to the finish. You...you shouldn't let her professional jealousy, or the specter that is your mother’s legacy get in the way of you taking your shot.”

Meredith nodded. “I better get out of here, before I am already on my next shift.”

Meredith and AJ bid goodbye to Dr. Shepherd and headed home. Meredith was more than ready to fall into bed for just a few hours of sleep. She knew she would need to wake up sooner than she would like to sort out the impending childcare nightmare, but she longed for her pillow. So it was more than a surprise that when they reached their home, someone was already there waiting for them outside on the porch swing.

“Nana Diane!” AJ called, running to the older woman.

“Diane, Meredith greeted her best friend’s mother. “What are you doing here?”

“I got on the first flight I could when AJ called me about Mrs. Patterson,” the lady said, still hugging her surrogate grandchild. “I’m going to stay for as long as you need me.”

“Diane,” Meredith said, choking back tears. “You don’t have to do that. We would have figured something out. I can’t ask you to just drop everything for me.”

“You do for family,” the woman said. “And you, my dear, are part of my family.”

The trio headed inside, Meredith led Diane to the guest room and as the older woman began to settle in, Meredith mumbled, “Wake me in 4 hours.” She headed across the hall and collapsed into her bed, asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

Several hours later, Meredith woke and headed downstairs, finding AJ and Diane in the kitchen preparing a lasagna. She kissed her daughter on the top of the head, greeting the older woman. 

Her phone buzzed, indicating an incoming video call from Maggie. “Hi Maggie,” she said as she answered, setting the phone down on the counter so all three people could see the woman on the other end.

“Hi, Meredith,” her best friend said. “Hi Mom, Hi AJ. How are you all?”

*** 4 Years Earlier ***

Meredith was never quite sure how she became best friends with Maggie Pierce. It was just that both of them were so out of sync with all of their peers that, even though they weren’t really in sync with each other, they actually were.

Meredith’s protective streak for Maggie remained firmly in place, and the two met up frequently to study. When Thanksgiving rolled around, Maggie asked her friend what her plans were, fully expecting her to have some sort of family obligation coming. So when she told her friend she would just be at her apartment with her daughter, Maggie had insisted she come to her family’s home for Thanksgiving. 

It took almost no time at all for Meredith and AJ to become close to Diane. She was just the type of person that you couldn’t help but feel drawn to - a born mother and grandmother. By Christmas, she was “Nana Diane” to AJ and Maggie was “Auntie Maggie”. 

4 year later, when she was about to start her internship at Mass Gen, Diane asked Meredith and AJ to move in with them. “It just makes sense,” Diane said. “I remember Maggie’s internship - you will be on shifts for 30 and 40 hours at a time! I’m with AJ when you can’t be - no argument about that! But if you are both living here, she’ll be sleeping in the same bed every night.”

As things turned out, though Meredith had been packing up to move when she got the call that brought her to Seattle. She was upset to leave her surrogate family behind, but needs must. Now, she had Diane back with her.

***

They talked about Meredith’s first shift, AJ’s lifesaving adventure, then Maggie got to the thing that had her most excited.

“Have you gotten your results yet,” Maggie asked. Several weeks before, Meredith had sent a DNA sample from herself and from AJ, while Maggie had sent her own DNA in for analysis. As an adopted child, Maggie had always been curious about where she came from and Meredith had questions of her own about her family. And having not heard from AJ’s father in her entire life, she wondered about her child’s health prospects as well.

“No, nothing yet,” she said. “What about you?”

“Still waiting. I’m so excited. I want to know everything!” Maggie gushed. “Promise you will call once you have them!”

“I promise,” she said. 

A few weeks later, Meredith, Diane and AJ had settled into a fairly regular rhythm. Meredith went to the hospital for her 48-hour shifts, and AJ stayed with Diana for the day. Diane brought her at lunch time every day to see her mother. 

During one such lunch, Dr. Shepherd encountered the trio in the hospital cafeteria. On the table sat a conspicuous medical evidence cooler. “Good afternoon, ladies,” Dr. Shepherd greeted. “AJ, perhaps you can introduce me to your friend.” He referred to Diane.

“This is my Nana Diane,” the girl told him.

“Very nice to meet you,” he said. “Derek Shepherd.” He smiled charmingly. 

“Dr. Shepherd is the head of neurosurgery,” Meredith explained.

“You’re still carrying around that…” Dr. Shepherd started.

Meredith cut her eyes toward her daughter, “Medical evidence. Yes. Apparently, the police are backed up today in getting someone to come and pick it up, and the evidence has to stay with the person who collected it - chain of custody or whatever.”

“Wasn’t Dr. Burke technically the one who collected it?” he smiled. “

“You want to go tell him that?” she asked archly. “Besides, it has been in my possession, which is apparently what is most important.”

“What’s in the cooler?” AJ asked, for the third time in the last ten minutes.

“I have already told you all I am going to tell you - that we collected evidence of a crime from a patient, which I have to give to the police once they come to pick it up,” Meredith said. 

“It’s really not that exciting,” Dr. Shepherd told the girl. “I was there when your mom identified and collected that evidence. Certainly nothing that would interest you.”

Alex, the intern who had been reassigned to their team, approached the table, cocky smile on his face. “Grey, you still carrying around that penis from the rape surgery?”

“Karev!” Shepherd shouted.

“Alex!” Meredith cried at the same time. “Read the table! Do you really think I wanted you to say that in front of my 9-year-old?”

“Sorry, Grey,” Alex murmured.

“Let’s go and have a little chat, Karev,” Dr. Shepherd said, leading away a chastised looking Alex.

“Mom?” AJ asked quietly. 

“Yes, AJ, that’s what’s in the cooler. We are going to have a longer conversation about this in private when I get home, okay?” Meredith said. 

Later that day, Meredith once again found Dr. Shepherd sitting with their patient, Allison. “How is she?” Meredith asked.

“No change,” he replied.

“Have you been here all night?” she asked.

“She’s all alone,” he said. “You know I have four sisters? Very girly, tons of kids. If I was in a coma, they'd all be here. I'd want them here. Having no one? I can't imagine that.”

“I can,” Meredith said. “You met Diane downstairs - she isn’t AJ’s real grandmother, but she’s as good as family to me.” 

“What about your family?” he asked.

“I have two half-sisters I have never met,” she paused. “Until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t seen either of my parents or AJ’s other grandparents in 10 years.”

*** 3 weeks earlier ***

Meredith had spent much of the day checking her mother in and getting her settled at the Roseridge home, an exhausting task. Ellis’s first meeting with her granddaughter had not gone well, to say the least. Meredith couldn’t say whether it was the Alzheimer’s talking, or just her mother’s personality that led her to shout, “Why did you bring her here? How did you find her?” on first seeing AJ.

Now Meredith and AJ had made their way to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the upcoming week. Lost in her musings as she rounded the corner, Meredith nearly collided with another shopper. “Oh, excuse me,” she said.

At the same time, the other shopper looked up and began to also murmur an apology, when he recognized her, “Meredith Grey?” he asked.

She looked at his face, after a moment coming to recognition, “Ben Warren?”

The two hugged each other hesitantly. “Wow,” he said. “How long has it been?”

“Probably about ten years,” Meredith said.

AJ chose this moment to pipe up. “Mom, can I pick out cereal?” she asked.

“Yes,” Meredith pointed her on her way. She instructed, “Pick out one fun cereal and one healthy cereal.”

“Is she…?” He started.

“Danny’s,” she confirmed quietly. “He and his parents have never seen or contacted her.”

“You don’t know about...” he hesitated. “Can we go and grab coffee or something for a few minutes? There are some things that have happened that someone should have told you.”

Ten minutes later, both had checked out their supplies and headed across the street to the ice cream shop. Meredith and Ben settled at a table as AJ walked up to the counter to make her order. “What are you doing these days?” he asked, trying to casually ease into an awkward conversation.

“I start at Seattle Grace as a surgical intern in a few weeks,” Meredith said. “How about you?”

“I am a third-year resident at Mercy West - Anesthesiology,” he said. He paused before adding, “It was what happened to Danny that inspired me to choose that career path.”

“Ben…” Meredith said. “What on earth happened?”

“You remember that Danny’s daddy had that old convertible?” Ben asked. Meredith nodded. “Danny, Michael and I snuck the car out of the garage while Mr. Monroe was sleeping - we had done it before. We would drive the car around in the woods and stand up in the back seat. We’d done it before.”

“Danny was driving at first, then Michael asked to drive. But he swerved to miss a deer, and we crashed into a tree. Danny...he cracked his skull. He is in a persistent vegetative state. He’s in a long-term care facility.”

Meredith drew in a sharp breath, glancing up to check that her daughter was still at the counter, and hopefully not listening in.

“When did this happen? What was the date?”

Ben named the date.

“That’s two weeks after she was born,” Meredith whispered. “Do his parents...do they still live in the same place?”

Ben nodded. “I still see them from time to time. I go and see Danny whenever I have the chance.”

“I’ve sent them so many letters,” Meredith said. “They always come back. They’ve never once written back. And they didn’t think I would want to know about this?”

“I know...I...As soon as I realized you didn’t know I had to tell you.” Ben said.

Just then, AJ finally joined them with her ice cream, and Meredith shifted the conversation to more neutral topics. In the end, they exchanged contact details and promised to get together again. 

*** One Week Later ***

After meeting with Ben, Meredith decided to be proactive in her relationships with AJ’s other grandparents. She had tried a phone call first, but getting nowhere, had decided to just show up on both Thatcher’s and Sylvia and Dan Sr’s doorsteps. Finally, Meredith and AJ got together for an awkward and uncomfortable family dinner with Danny’s parents.

But at least she was trying.

***

“I am working on forgiveness,” Meredith finally said. “It is especially hard when the people who have wronged you have never apologized, shown any sort of change in attitude or even made any effort to reach out at all. I am making all of the moves. But in the end it is the best way forward. To get those negative thoughts out of my mind and move forward and be happy. Giving them another chance is what is best for my child.”

He nodded.

“Of course, that wasn’t really my original point, you know,” Meredith said with a smile. “My point is that I have the family I have made for myself. AJ, Diane, Maggie...A few other good friends of mine. My point is...I think she has people. You don’t fight like that if you don’t have people. We just don’t know who her people are.”

He smiled. Then the patient’s monitors began to go off, and she was once again rushed into surgery.

Finally her shift was nearly over. The patient awake, the penis handed over to the police, and the rapist inadvertently captured when he stumbled into the ER, nearly bleeding to death. 

Meredith was on her way out of the hospital and heading to her car when her phone rang. Seeing the caller was Maggie, she answered, “Hi Maggie!”

“Did you know?” the voice of her friend demanded on the other end of the line.

“Maggie?” Meredith queried. “Did I know what? What’s happening?”

“I got my DNA test back today,” Maggie said. “Did you know that you are my sister?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone is wondering, casting for AJ is Chloe Coleman (My Spy). Your reviews are a buoy to my spirits.


End file.
